Successful fundraising attitudes

There’s a phrase that I heard not so long ago that I love and I want to share it with you.

What you think about is what you bring about.

In other words, your thoughts determine your outcomes.

Think about it for a moment.

If you focus on negative stuff, what is your experience? More negative stuff. If you focus on positive things? More positive things.

It directly applies to fundraising.

If everything you think about around fundraising is negative, you’re bound to have a negative experience. The more positive you can be, the more likely you can raise the money you want and your organization needs.

Here are some negative thoughts you might be thinking, and their positive counterpart.

Negative thoughts

Positive thoughts

“We’ve always done it that way”

“Is there a better way to do it?”

“People won’t give because of the economy”

“Plenty of people are gainfully employed and have discretionary money.”

“We’re just a small organization.”

“Our size has nothing to do with the impact we are having. We are changing lives for the better”

“We can’t compete with the big nonprofits.”

“We don’t need to compete with them. There are plenty of people to serve and plenty of people to give.”

“We can’t raise big money. We don’t have any big donors.”

“We probably have lots of donors who could and would give more if we got to know them and gave them the chance to give.”

“Our Board won’t do anything to help raise money.”

“Let’s talk to our Board members and see what we can do to support them in raising money.”

“I’m just not any good at fundraising.”

“I’d like to learn how to be better at fundraising.”

I challenge you to monitor your thoughts this week. Every time you catch yourself thinking something negative, say to yourself “cancel!” Then think a more positive version of that thought. And see what happens.

I bet you’ll have a different experience and see some amazing things start to happen!

What People are Saying

“About 4 years ago we were deep in the hole. Thanks to Sandy and her system, we now have 6 months operating expenses in a reserve fund and an endowment! We have stable and diversified funding and strong individual donors. Not to mention a lot less stress!”